Watch Costs Roll Away:
Vinyl Roll-Up Dock Doors Get Traffic Through Faster
Tony Goff,
Posted
08/01/2008
With energy costs
on the rise and at the forefront of businesses discussions, "going
green" is more than just a corporate mantra these days. Crude oil
is inching toward $160 a barrel and may have shot past that figure
by the time this article appears in print.
Electric prices between 2007 and 2009 are expected to increase by
at least 6.5 percent. It's no wonder businesses are turning over
every stone in an attempt to reduce the bite energy is taking from
their bottom line.
Out the Door
For many commercial and industrial buildings, that dock door
represents real bleeding to the energy budget, enabling hundreds of
dollars to escape if it is not closed properly or if the door does
not sufficiently seal the doorway.
Opening and closing sectional doors as traffic moves in and out is
a costly practice, but it's one that is repeated in industrial
buildings. Worse, the cumbersome process prompts employees to
rationalize keeping the doorway open between usages.
A comparison study was performed using normal 14- by 14-foot (4- by
4-m) sectional overhead door with a travel speed of 3 inches (76
mm) per second against a 14- by 14-foot vinyl roll-up door with a
travel speed of 36 inches (914 mm) per second. The study showed
that for a doorway separating two areas with a 20-degree
temperature differential, based on current energy costs, a faster
door could show savings of 50 cents per use.
Four high-speed roll-up doors used 10 times a day would save an
estimated $5,200 in energy costs annually; this is in addition to
the increased efficiencies found when drivers do not have to wait
for slow-moving traditional doors. Plus, by using remote control
devices from the forklift cab, the vehicle can roll through the
open doorway without stopping.
Pick Your Piece
A fabric roll-up door would not replace a solid panel door on an
exterior doorway. The solid panel sectional door offers security
and greater insulation during times when the doorway is not in use.
However, a doorway can have both a sectional door and a roll-up
door to use at different times of the day.
The effect of temperature differentials separated by the doorway
can have an impact on interior rooms, as well. For example, a
facility could have a temperature-controlled production area
accessible by a doorway that leads to an ambient-temperature
warehouse section.
In addition, vinyl roll-up doors offer a better seal than solid
sectional doors, sealing the doorway at these points along the full
perimeter:
• Top: Double baffle under the valence and a valence panel prevents
wind from blowing into the building.
• Sides: Rugged, custom-extruded guide track traps the rollers to
prevent them from blowing out of the door frame. EPDM seals on both
sides ensure a tight seal at vertical edges.
• Bottom: Soft vinyl safety edge conforms to the floor's
contours.
These doors, despite their vinyl curtains, are ready for these
heavy-duty applications. The curtains can be 18-ounce coated vinyl
and can meet NFPA 701 standards for flame retardancy.
Added
Benefits
All doorways are moving targets for the vehicles passing through
them. A door knocked out of action is often a door left open until
it can be repaired.
Roll-up doors include breakaway capability. When the door is hit by
a moving vehicle, the curtain releases from the side guides and can
be quickly and easily reset in the guides, minimizing doorway
exposure to energy loss.
Roll-up doors also can feature mesh curtains, which keep pests out
while letting fresh air in, further reducing air-conditioning
costs. On the flip side, the 65 percent shade-screen factor offered
by mesh curtain doors keeps productivity up while keeping
non-air-conditioned plant space cooler for longer periods of time.
Doors like this can keep the air conditioning off an extra 10 to 20
days a year, depending on the location/climate.
Finally, tensioning systems allow roll-up curtains to withstand
winds of up to 70 mph without blowing out of their guides.
We can't do much about energy prices, but lower cost roll-up doors
offer a step toward increasing productivity while keeping heated or
chilled air in its place.
Tony Goff has been president of Goff's Enterprises Inc., Pewaukee,
Wis., since 1987. The company is an innovator in vinyl room
separation products for industrial and commercial uses. For more
information, go to www.goffscurtainwalls.com.
www.goffscurtainwalls.com